Innocents continue to die despite 'strict gun laws' in N.J.

Construction of a Bergen County Justice Center in Hackensack continues after completion of a second parking garage, right. The garage interior isn't completed. The county is leasing 540 parking spaces at 150 River St., The Record's old headquarters, but that deal was supposed to have ended this past July.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

On Page 1 today, The Record insists New Jersey has "strict gun laws," but the paper also continues to report on drive-by shootings and other gun violence in Paterson.

Maybe, Staff Writer Melissa Hayes should quote Governor Christie blowing smoke, as he vainly seeks the GOP presidential nomination, and saying he pardoned three men who supposedly violated those "strict" laws.

Or, the editors should stop reporting, as the Local section did on Sept. 19, that Silk City has seen 46 shootings this year, resulting in eight deaths and injuries to 50 other people.

Or Hayes could report New Jersey has strict gun laws except in minority communities where the police see their job as reducing gun violence, not ending it:

"Our numbers [of shootings] are significantly down from last year," Paterson Police Director Jerry Speziale was quoted as saying on Sept. 19.

In April, a spray of bullets killed a rising 15-year-old basketball star, the third innocent young person killed by Paterson gunfire in less than a year.

Other news

Two non-stories appear on the front page today.

Political Columnist Charles Stile is boring us again with his weekly report on Christie's "image" (A-1)

And a Mahwah police officer -- who saved a college student struck by a pickup after he jaywalked across Route 17 -- is praised for doing his job (A-1).

At the news meeting, Editor Martin Gottlieb reasoned the officer deserves to be on Page 1 because he didn't shoot the student.

Crocodile tears

An editorial condemning NJ Transit for raising fares an average of 9 percent today doesn't even mention Christie's drastic cuts in state subsidies to the agency -- the latest in a series of blows against mass transit (A-18).

"Pay more for less -- not smart policy for a public transit system," the unidentified writer says. "Or, for that matter, for a state."

That editorial could have been referring to readers who subscribe to a daily newspaper that offers them less and less.

Another front page overflowing with news we can't use

The exterior of the 222-unit Meridia Metro rental building on State Street in Hackensack appears to be complete, but tenants won't be moving in until the fall. Completion of the project, the first in the city's ambitious downtown redevelopment plan, was delayed.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

The Record's Sports section does such a pathetically poor job of covering Formula 1 and other auto racing readers are bewildered by a Page 1 story today on a Wayne college student's quixotic quest to drive in the world's most exclusive club.

That's only one of the stories and columns Editor Martin Gottlieb chose for a front page that basically wastes North Jersey readers' valuable time (A-1).

A-1 is dominated by the same images of a refugee crisis in Europe readers have seen on the nightly TV news for many days now.

Christie, Iran deal

Gottlieb also robs readers with yet another A-1 story by Staff Writer Melissa Hayes on Governor Christie's floundering campaign, especially in New Hampshire, which he visited 22 times.

Are you looking for an opinion on whether families of victims killed "in Iran-sponsored attacks" should finally collect on court judgments from billions of dollars that will be unfrozen as part of the nuclear deal?

You won't find one from opinion Columnist Mike Kelley, who pushes thousands of words around in another overly long piece to frame the "debate over the deal" (A-1).

The thumbnail photo of Kelly's shit-eating grin -- dating to the early 2000s -- is an insult to readers.

Local news?

Did local Assignment Editors Deirdre Sykes and Dan Sforza give up their best local story to Gottlieb -- the one on Page 1 of a 19-year-old's Formula 1 dreams?

That would seem to be the case from all of the Law & Order news in today's local-news section (L-1, L-2, L-3 and L-6).

On L-3, readers stare dumbly at filler photos of a trash spill on Route 17 and a non-fatal fire in Clifton, where the tenants have so little rent money they have to live over a bar.

The number of Paterson stories in the section delivered to Bergen County readers suggests North Jersey Media Group is trying to save money on newsprint by eliminating a separate section for Passaic County.

Editors crow over PA scoop, ignore mass-transit failures

Rain barrels are an easy way to conserve water during what federal weather officials are calling a "moderate drought" in North Jersey, according to The Record.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

The Record's editors waste no time today taking credit on Page 1 for a scoop exposing a United Airlines flight between Newark and Columbia, S.C., "to curry favor" with David Samson when he was chairman of the powerful Port Authority.

A federal and internal probe of the special flight for Samson, often called a mentor and father figure to Governor Christie, led to the departure of the Newark-based airline's CEO (A-1).

But the Woodland Park daily has done a far poorer job exposing how little the bistate agency has done to expand mass-transit operations, including the PATH commuter rail system and the reverse bus lane into the Lincoln Tunnel.

The agency's mass-transit failures affect far more readers than another so-called expose of cronyism and favoritism in high places.

Christie P.R.

Editor Martin Gottlieb continues to assign Staff Writer Melissa Hayes to cover Christie's doomed bid for the GOP presidential nomination in 2016.

Hayes' story, which sounds more like public relations than hard-hitting reporting, appears on Page 1, marveling over the conservative bully holding more town hall meetings in New Hampshire than any other GOP clown (A-1).

Local news?

On the Local front today, Assignment Editors Deirdre Sykes and Dan Sforza give lavish coverage to the opening of a $20 million science, technology, engineering and mathematics center at the hoity toity Dwight-Englewood School (L-1).

The private school, on the mansion-filled East Hill of Englewood, counts among its alumni Malcolm A. "Mac" Borg, chairman of North Jersey Media Group; his wife Sandra Agemian Borg; son Stephen A. Borg, publisher of The Record; and daughter Jennifer A. Borg, NJMG vice president and general counsel.

Stephen's sons, Alexander, Austin and Charlie, are in the Dwight-Englewood Classes of 2017, 2019 and 2021, respectively.

In the past, coverage of Englewood's private schools has been far more extensive than that of the troubled public schools, even though both Sykes and Sforza covered the small city as reporters before they were promoted to assignment editors.

'Horse' in Teaneck

Instead of municipal news, another lead story on the Local front catches up to the seizure of $3.5 million in heroin, also called "horse," and the arrest of a California man in a home on Bryant Avenue in Teaneck.

There is no explanation for why Sykes and Sforza didn't report the Friday arrest and seizure until a press release came out on Tuesday or why the identity of the house renter eluded the three reporters who worked on the story (L-1 and L-2).

More filler

The desperate local editors also needed more Law & Order news and two drive-by accident photos to fill their thin section today (L-3).

The caption under a photo of a tobacco truck fire at Routes 17 and 80 in Hackenack doesn't say whether the driver was speeding, his load shifted or whether the bridge abutment he hit was damaged.

And the photo is all the Hackensack news you'll find today.

More filler appears in Business, where an entire half page is wasted on a story about "auto parts suppliers" by the Detroit Free Press (L-9).

Happy New Year

On the Better Living cover today, freelancer Sachi Fujimori shares Rosh Hashana recipes from Israeli chefs in North Jersey (BL-1).

She says these "culinary artisans grew up with the flavors of the Middle East, Mediterranean and North Africa."

But none of the recipes on BL-4 contain Middle Eastern or North African spices and herbs.

Fujimori was a reporter at The Record for more than 5 years, leaving in February 2014. She also worked at the Herald News.

Editors bury gun-control plea, restate obvious on Page 1

At Bergen Town Center in Paramus, an employee uses this fully electric vehicle to collect litter at properties on both sides of Forest Avenue.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

The Record today buries a plea for gun control from the father of the Virginia reporter who was shot and killed on live television.

The placement of the story on A-4 suggests the media are partly responsible for why, as The Associated Press says, "winning such measures has proved nearly impossible in the United States."

Meanwhile, leading the paper at the top of Page 1, is a Mike Kelly column that simply restates the obvious -- "the inherent randomness of gun violence in America today" (A-1).

Where does Kelly think readers have been in the past decade or more as The Record and other media have reported one random shooting after another where children and adults gather?

Without warning, innocent people have been slaughtered in schools, churches, movie theaters, malls and on the streets of impoverished cities like Paterson (L-1).

What is remarkable about the piece from Kelly -- who has written extensively about 9/11 and the proposal for a mosque near Ground Zero -- is that this may be the first time he has had anything kind to say about Muslims.

Cheap gas

Also on the front page today, the editors promote cheap gas without pausing to consider the impact of more driving on air pollution, traffic congestion and climate change (A-1 and A-10).

Staff Writer Melissa Hayes, who has been traveling with Governor Christie in his doomed bid for the presidency, is back on A-1 today with another upbeat story, "even though he's a second-tier candidate who ranked ninth" in a poll released Thursday (A-1).

Editor Martin Gottlieb even gave the obscure "clam shrimp" better play (A-1) than Andy Parker's decision to fight for gun control.

3 corrections

Three corrections today suggest Assignment Editors Deirdre Sykes and Dan Sforza, and Production Editor Liz Houlton, failed again in their responsibility to deliver a completely accurate local report (A-2).

One of the corrections notes that in his Friday column on A-1, Road Warrior John Cichowski mistakenly killed a 13-year-old who survived a Route 80 crash -- adding to the hundreds of errors that have cemented his reputation as the most inaccurate reporter in the newsroom.

Local news?

The large number of Law & Order stories today could mean Sykes and Forza took a three-day weekend, leaving it to the police and court reporters to fill their thin section (L-1, L-2, L-3 and L-6).

On the half shell

For a good read, see a story on the comeback of the Delaware Bay oyster industry and the succulent Cape May Salt by freelancer Shelby Vittek (BL-1).

Readers wonder what's next for market, their newspaper

Drivers lining up for gas at the Costco Wholesale station in Wayne, where regular was selling for $2.09.9 a gallon last week. Cheap gas has encouraged more speeding and aggressive driving on the New Jersey Turnpike, Garden State Parkway and other highways.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

If you're going to devote all of Page 1 above the fold to the Wall Street "correction," does it make any sense to use the rest of the page to report on Governor Christie's "latest television ad" or even a rapper's free concert in Paterson?

Readers encounter more of Editor Martin Gottlieb's news judgement from hell today.

Christie lost ground after the first big debate among the GOP presidential hopefuls, yet his struggling campaign remains front-page news in the Woodland Park daily.

Columnist Charles Stile and Staff Writer Melissa Hayes have been doing masterful public relations for the GOP buffoon, who has spent more than half the year out of state on party business (A-1 and A-3).

Wait till next year

Are readers really paying that much attention nearly a year before the Republican National Convention on July 18-21, 2016, in Tampa, Fla., or are the media cranking up sensational coverage just to make the race seem close?

The Democratic National Convention is scheduled for July 25, 2016, in Philadelphia.

On the Opinion page today, Columnist Catherine Rampell of The Washington Post calls all of the candidates from both parties "deadbeats."

Referring to Christie, Rampell noted "New Jersey has undergone nine credit-rating downgrades and ranked 44th in private sector growth" (A-9).

Yet, Christie is promising "blockbuster economic growth" when he is president.

I guess that is as credible as his campaign promise to cut property taxes after he became governor in 2010.

Motion practice

Gottlieb is so desperate today he is running a long story on motions filed in the corruption case against U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez (A-5).

Defense attorneys usually file a blur of motions for two reasons: It boosts their legal fees and hence their outrageous profits, and postpones the inevitable. 

A second story on legal maneuvering appears on the Local front, where the law firm Christie hired at public expense is fighting a subpoena for computer data in connection with the George Washington Bride lane closure sandal (L-1).

WNYC-FM's "The Christie Tracker" puts the total cost of Bridgegate -- billed to "taxpayers and tollpayers" -- at $11.1 million.

Local news?

A long story on a new principal for an elementary school in Woodland Park, not far from the newsroom, has readers wondering whether the local assignment editors, Deirdre Sykes and Dan Sforza, lost the directions to Hackensack after they moved out in 2009 (L-3).

Are Christie, legislators caving into real estate interests?

With Manhattan's Riverside Church in the distance, this is what remained of one of AvalonBay's apartment buildings in Edgewater two days after a five-alarm fire on Jan. 21 that destroyed more than half of the 408 units, above and below. Seven months later, no changes in state building codes have been made to require "sturdier material, firewalls and enhanced sprinkler systems," The Record is reporting today.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

It's hard to believe The Record could publish a long Page 1 story today on calls for a tougher state building code to prevent another devastating AvalonBay apartment fire, and not get reaction from Governor Christie.

Christie's name does appear on the front page today in a column from Washington Correspondent Herb Jackson (A-1), who reports the GOP bully leads all other presidential candidates in how much special-interest money he has raised in the Garden State.

Staff Writer Melissa Hayes and political Columnist Charles Stile have traveled with Christie on his campaign appearances in New Hampshire and Iowa, but I guess they had Sunday off.

Linh Tat and Minjae Park, the local reporters who wrote the story on long-delayed changes in the state building code, give the impression nothing is getting done in Trenton, despite a Democratic majority in the Legislature (A-1).

Big profits

AvalonBay is a real estate investment trust that returns big dividends to investors. 

Any changes in state building codes -- such as banning the use of cheap-wood construction -- to improve the fire resistance of AvanlonBay's proposed residential projects in Wayne, Teaneck and other communities would cut heavily into those profits. 

And today's story doesn't mention any improvements to existing AvalonBay buildings, such as those in Hackensack, where tenants have been losing sleep since seeing media images of the fast-moving fire that destroyed the Edgewater complex. 

Local news?

What a soft Local front today -- deer, dogs and parkland dominate the section.

For the second day in a row, The Record covered a demonstration for Kevin Allen, a black Passaic city resident who was shot by police outside the Lyndhurst Public Library on May 29 (L-1).

The education stories from Paterson (L-2) and Butler (L-3) contrast with the embargo on school and Board of Education news from Hackensack.

'O Canada'

Travel Editor Jill Schensul publishes a belated column on eastern Canada, including Montreal, where a strong U.S. dollar means big discounts for Americans (BL-1).

And in contrast to detailed reports from restaurant critic Elisa Ung on all of the artery clogging desserts she has sampled, today's Better Living cover story explores restaurant owner Lisa Mayisoglu's fitness and healthy food regimen (BL-1).

Editors bury another Christie failure, promote campaign

Ominous clouds greeted drivers heading east on Route 4 in Paramus this morning. 

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Editor Martin Gottlieb of The Record continues to promote Governor Christie's lame presidential bid on Page 1, and bury his many flaws inside the paper.

Today, readers may have given up looking for something relevant to their lives before they see an L-2 story on Christie's "abysmal" environmental record.

For the A-1 report on Christie's New Jersey education "success stories," Gottlieb turned to the governor's favorite lap dog, Staff Writer Melissa Hayes, who is covering the GOP bully's New Hampshire appearances.

What debate?

The lead front-page story today carries this sensational, made-up headline and sub-head:

Heartbreaking

debate over when

a life has ended

Family won't accept decision that teen is brain dead

Of course, there is no "debate." 

The lead paragraph clearly says, the case "could spur another emotional debate over when life ends and how organ donor cases should be handled."

I doubt even that. What shoddy journalism.

Where's the fire?

Another sensational story on the front page claims Paterson firefighters were "pushed to the limit" battling a series of fires in one of the city's slums in "searing heat and humidity."

That only serves to remind readers The Record has never identified the owners of substandard multi-family housing in Silk City or reported on the widespread exploitation of tenants who live in illegal apartments (A-1).

And the photo of firefighters in the same heavy gear they wear in winter makes you wonder why no advances in fire protection have been made (A-6).

Christie's bringing-up-the-rear campaign isn't Page 1 news

Employees at the ShopRite in Englewood say expansion of the store, above, is imminent.

The parking lot has already been expanded.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Editor Martin Gottlieb of The Record continues to throw away money by assigning Staff Writer Melissa Hayes to cover Governor Christie's fading campaign for the GOP presidential nomination.

In fact, the "Election 2016" bug on Hayes' Page 1 story from Iowa and New Hampshire is incorrect, since the Republicans won't be picking their candidate until next July. 

Disease of the week

Buddy Cordato is one lucky Parkinson's disease patient, thanks to a brain stimulator (A-1).

And Staff Writer Lindy Washburn is asking readers to share their stories, "if you've had a second chance at life because of extraordinary medical care" (A-8).

The Cordato story is great publicity for doctors and Hackensack University Medical Center.

But when is Gottlieb going to devote half of Page 1 and two full newspaper pages inside to dementia, heart disease and other illnesses that affect far more people, including many of his readers?

Honest mechanic

The best-read story on the Local front today likely is the obituary of an honest Teaneck auto-repair shop owner, known to one and all as Taki (A-1 and L-1).

Taki, 66, who was born in Japan, stood in contrast to all of those greedy auto mechanics and dealers who have exploited car owners since the invention of the internal-combustion engine.

Assignment Editors Deirdre Sykes and Dan Sforza couldn't find much local news for today's section, so they used filler on both L-2 (a long Dean's List) and L-3 (two accident photos).

The caption of one photo, showing a car on its roof, suggests Teaneck police are incompetent: "Police do not know what caused the accident."

Get me rewrite

On the Opinion front today, Columnist Mike Kelly wastes readers' time with a rehash of the clashing portrayals of prisoners of war evident to just about everyone in the July 19 edition of The Record (O-1).

That's when Gottlieb led the front page with Donald Trump questioning the heroism of U.S. Sen. John McCain, who was a prisoner of war in Vietnam.

Meanwhile, on the Local front of the same paper, the editors led with a parade in Washington Township for another prisoner of war, World War II vet Vito Trause, 90.

Today's Margulies cartoon puts Christie's campaign in perspective, in contrast to Hayes' friendly front-page story (O-2).

Rich food

Restaurant customers hoping for coverage of such issues as tipping and naturally raised food are out of luck again today.

None other than Food Editor Esther Davidowitz presents a glowing profile of Kim Costagliola, the wealthy owner of Esty Street in Park Ridge (BL-1).

There is nothing here on the quality of the food he serves or how he treats his employees, only paragraph after paragraph describing his possessions.

Meanwhile, Elisa Ung, the paper's chief restaurant critics, continues to indulge her sweet tooth, listing two desserts among the four best dishes she ate this month (BL-5).

The other two are filled with carbs many people are trying to avoid. Seems strange she couldn't find a great salad or a superior preparation of wild-caught fish.

Half of BL-2 today is devoted to advertisements for restaurants, a bar and a baker that are disguised as "tasty news bites."

Editors go from mindless P.R. to calling Christie 'long shot'

Only one side of the Route 46 bridge in Little Ferry has been rebuilt, including a new sidewalk and  guardrail to protect pedestrians, above. And the accident-plagued former Little Ferry Circle still has the look of a construction zone, below. The work began in June 2014.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

If you thought Saturday's front page was boring, Page 1 of the Sunday edition delivers a tedious retrospective on home foreclosures and an "Analysis" on spending at public colleges.

Even today's bright headline and story on lawyers who wear bow ties can't lift Editor Martin Gottlieb's front page out of the doldrums.

I would have liked to see Stephanie Akin's story at least mention the exorbitantly high legal fees that allow bow-tied lawyers to exhibit such sartorial splendor (A-1).

GOP clowns

And why did Gottlieb lead with that clown, Donald Trump, questioning the war heroism of Arizona Sen. John McCain (A-1), and not Governor Christie's defense?

Then, the real "news" in today's paper would have been on Page 1, not on A-8, a declaration by The Record that Christie's presidential campaign "is viewed by many as a long shot."

That's fortified by an Opinion column (O-2) noting Christie is a "third-tier GOP presidential candidate who was tied with Rick Perry, Bobby Jindal and Rick Santorum, each of whom netted 2 percent in a nationwide survey of GOP voters ...."

Next step

Of course, The Record's editorial board needs to really put an end to more than five years of shameless public relations for the GOP bully from Columnist Charles Stile, Staff Writer Melissa Hayes and others.

The Woodland Park daily must call on Christie to give up his so-called campaign and try to repair all the damage he has done in New Jersey since he took office in early 2010.

Local hero?

The editors of Page 1 and the Local front don't seem to talk to each other.

On the front page, Trump slams McCain, but L-1 is dominated by a parade for another prisoner of war, Vito Trause of Washington Township, celebrating his 90th birthday.

Neither story refers to the other, as is common newspaper practice.

Overfed

Today's column from the dessert-obsessed Elisa Ung may be her first acknowledgement in more than eight years of food reporting at The Record that many people have dietary restrictions that prevent them from eating anything and everything under the sun, as she does (BL-1).

But she interviews only chefs who are diabetic or have celiac disease.

Surely, she must know -- or doesn't want to know -- that many thousands of her readers are following a heart-healthy diet or, unlike her, just watching their weight and cholesterol.

Good, bad work

Staff Writer Richard Newman, whose byline is on the Page 1 foreclosure story, did a great job on the profile of Capt. Mike Bowers, United Airlines' chief pilot at Newark Liberty International Airport (B-1).

But the upbeat Real Estate front on a developer who is converting a Paterson ribbon mill into apartments (R-1) clashes with The Record's usual portrayal of Silk City -- gun violence, drug dealers and corrupt politicians.

The story by veteran Staff Writer Kathleen Lynn doesn't even answer such typical questions as how close tenants are to food shopping and other businesses, and how does a Paterson landlord justify renting a one-bedroom apartment with a loft for $1,200 a month?

Second look

We may pay some of the highest municipal and county taxes in the nation, but town and Bergen County officials continue to disappoint residents when it comes to repaving streets.

For the last couple of years, utility work has torn up streets from Hackensack to Hackettstown, and most of them remain roughly patched and bumpy going for anything smaller than a Sherman Tank.

Except for an annual column or two on potholes, Road Warrior John Cichowski ignores the abysmal condition of streets, some of which haven't been paved in decades.

In fact, when Oradell officials approved the milling and paving of five streets, the story landed on the Local news front on Saturday.

Staff Writer Nicholas Pugliese reported the borough's capital budget of more than $1 million included "aggressive spending on road improvements."

In Hackensack, officials have announced the repaving of two major streets, Grand and Prospect avenues, but the latter project won't provide smoother going for residents who live on several blocks between Passaic Street and Ross Avenue.

Christie enlists reporter, editors in his war on mass transit

Police have closed lanes on River Street in Hackensack today to continue the sewer-pipe work shown in this June photo.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

You won't have a hard time telling which side The Record is on in yet another doomsday story on NJ Transit fare hikes, labor woes and a widening budget gap.

Today's Page 1 story by the transportation reporter, Christopher Maag, reads like so many others he's written, ignoring or soft-pedaling Governor Christie's 5-year war against mass transit.

The Borg family's hatred of unions is well-known -- none has ever succeeded in representing long-suffering employees of North Jersey Media Group's flagship paper.

So, the contract dispute between NJ Transit and 17 unions representing its 4,263 rail employees is presented as another factor in the agency's "budget crisis" (A-1 and A-6).

The unions have asked for an average 3 percent annual raise over six years. Is that unreasonable?

Well, it might be viewed as such in a newsroom run by editors who have routinely denied raises to so many employees for so many years in return for a promise of lifetime employment from the Borgs.

Today's story also seems to accept Christie's move to slash state aid to NJ Transit by 90 percent since 2012, and doesn't even mention the GOP bully's refusal to raise the low gasoline tax to replenish the state Transportation Trust Fund (A-6). 

What reform?

Christie loves the word "reform," which he used to mask steep cuts in state employee benefits and contributions to their pensions that he needed to balance the state budget.

But not more than Editor Marty Gottlieb, who devotes a nice slice of the front page today to a lame story by Staff Writer Melissa Hayes on the presidential candidate's "plan for criminal justice reform" (A-1).

Maybe, it was just poorly edited, but I can't tell exactly what Christie is proposing without reading almost all of this overly long story, including background on drug courts.

On another front page dominated by international news, why did Gottlieb waste so much space on Sen. Bob Menendez's legal fund (A-1)?

Local news

Gottlieb continues to soil the memory of former Passaic Mayor Margie Semler by placing a story about her memorial and burial on L-6.

I guess there was no room for it on the Local news front (L-1), much of which is taken up a big photo of bored emergency responders taking part in a training exercise "last week." 

GOP bully grabs veto pen as N.J. budget battle heats up

In a 90-minute ceremony late Wednesday afternoon, more than 440 Hackensack High School students graduated in the school's 120th Commencement. This message on the back of a car in the school parking lot summed up how some of them felt.

Valedictorian Alexis Holmes, left, speaking to parents, relatives and friends of the Class of 2015.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

I don't see anything in The Record today, but radio news is reporting Governor Christie is getting his veto pen ready to slash a budget plan from the Democratic majority in the state Legislature.

On Wednesday's A-3, Staff Writer Melissa Hayes seemed to emphasize "a few pet projects for powerful Democrats" over restoring women's health centers, the Earned Income Tax Credit for the working poor and $2.6 billion for the underfunded state pension system.

Is Hayes, who covered Christie's out-of-state appearances in pursuit of his White House dreams, really the right reporter to cover the annual budget battle?

Just below Hayes' slanted budget story, her byline appears on another report:

"Governor Christie's approval rating in New Jersey continues to fall as he hovers in the middle of the pack of likely Republican presidential candidates among New Hampshire primary voters, according to polls released on Tuesday."

Graduates were arranged in rows from the shortest in front to the tallest in back in two groups, with officials in the center, forming an "H" on the football field.

Selling LG deal

Editor Martin Gottlieb uses Page 1 today to sell the deal that will allow LG to build a five-story headquarters atop the Palisades in Englewood Cliffs (A-1).

In fact, the compromise is a dangerous precedent. The Korean company should have donated the 25 acres to the borough for a park.

Demonizing transit

Gottlieb also continues to argue that NJ Transit and other mass-transit agencies should at least break even or make money.

A so-called Page 1 analysis raises the specter of a 11% increase in fares, if the agency's unionized employees win 3% annual raises over six years.

That would be on top of a 9% fare increase and service cuts that were proposed in response to Christie slashing state subsidies to NJ Transit.

This story and others on the state budget budget seem to be written from Christie's point of view, even though editorials in the Woodland Park daily have criticized the governor for his refusal to raise the low gasoline tax, which helps fund mass transit.

Corrections

On A-2 today, the editors acknowledge three errors, and provide news on the whereabouts of a missing stock page.

Breaking news

The U.S. Supreme Court today upheld the latest Republican challenge to the Affordable Care Act, ruling President Obama's health-care law may provide nationwide subsidies to help poor and middle-class people buy insurance.

In a letter to the editor today, Bob Verbeek of Leonia wrote about how the federal health-car law is working (A-10).

He also slammed Christie "for pandering to the Tea Party crowd in his bid for president" by refusing to set up a state exchange to enroll New Jersey residents.

   

Board of Education President Jason Nunnermacker, a lawyer, said nothing memorable in his address to Hackensack High School graduates. In fact, none of the speakers exhorted the students to try and make the world a better place.

Guests were forced to sit under a hot sun on cramped, metal bleachers overlooking the football field.

Hackensack news

Today's Local section leads with a report on Tuesday night's City Council meeting in Hackensack, where officials announced the formation of a task force "to help people with mental illnesses" (L-1).

Police Director Mike Mordaga is quoted as saying the department "had 20 stun guns on order" before recent fatal police shootings of two Hispanic residents, but officers are awaiting "training" by the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office.

This story and earlier ones don't explain why a police officer who is already trained to kill an armed suspect with a single gunshot needs to be trained in the use of a Taser or stun gun.

Not working out

Why does today's Business page carry an upbeat, highly promotional story from The Associated Press on one-room gyms in Manhattan (L-8)?

Are editors calling 2016 presidential race on front page?

The Record's Tuesday story on PSE&G replacing outdated, leaky gas pipes didn't say whether the work is closing streets in Hackensack, above, Fort Lee and other towns.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

On Sunday, Democrat Hillary Clinton got four of the five columns on Page 1 of The Record to announce her White House candidacy.

But former GOP Florida Gov. Jeb Bush's declaration commanded only three columns on Tuesday's front page.

And today, pro basketball grabbed all of the editor's attention, earning billionaire Republican Donald Trump only an A-1 brief, referring readers to his campaign launch inside (A-6).

Is Editor Martin Gottlieb using the front page to signal to readers which candidate he expects to win the 2016 presidential election?

No. It's more likely page designers long ago replaced The Record's editors in deciding the makeup of A-1 based on photos, presumed reader interest, sensationalism and exaggerating the importance of pro sports.

Christie play?

If Governor Christie finally declares he will be riding the GOP clown bus to the 2016 convention, will The Record give him a banner headline on the front page?

The paper's tone, at least on the Editorial Page, has shifted dramatically:

"The governor's lack of leadership on mass transit and road and rail infrastructure is inexcusable," today's editorial on rising NJ Transit rail fares and service cuts declares (A-12).

But the GOP bully signaled his war against mass transit nearly five ago, with the late 2010 cancellation of the Hudson River rail tunnels, and the editors swallowed whole his excuses for doing so.

They also were asleep when Christie grabbed hundreds of millions of dollars in leftover tunnel money from NJ Transit and the Port Authority to fix roads and bridges, rather than raise the low gas tax.

Governor Veto

Coverage of the worst governor in state history by Columnist Charles Stile, Staff Writer Melissa Hayes and others seemed to have been lifted from Christie's own upbeat press releases.

And The Record continually portrayed him as a compromiser and bipartisan, only this year reporting he has used the gubernatorial veto more than 350 times to kill progressive bills and get his way with the Legislature's majority Democrats.

Nasty Trump

In true racist form, Trump blasted Mexico for sending "people who have lots of problems," including "rapists," and vowed to build a border wall and have that country pay for it (A-6).

Mexicans and Central American cooks, kitchen workers and servers form the backbone of the Manhattan restaurant industry, including those owned and patronized by the billionaire.

I can see one of them spitting in his food or worse. LOL.

Word play

A mayor in Indiana who came out as gay on Tuesday has a last name that starts with "Butt" (A-6).

In Local, a Ramsey man accused of sexual assault is named "Goodfellow" (L-3).

Nikolas Samouhos

Congratulations to the local assignment editors, Deirdre Sykes and Dan Sforza, for once again treating a fatal accident victim as little more than road kill.

Today, readers learn Nik Samouhos, 40, of Ridgefield Park led an adventurous life and was loved by his family, including his four nephews (L-6).

On Tuesday, a brief reported Samouhos was killed in a collision in California, but the editors didn't bother finding out anything more than his age and where he lived.

Similar briefs have appeared in The Record's Local section literally for decades.